Rotary drier and disintegrator



y 6, 1952 A. K. BROWN ROTARY DRIER AND DISINTEGRATOR Filed Nov. 8, 1946 WVL-WwP Alla/2 K. 5mm

Patented May 6, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,595,509 aoTARYnmER'ANn DISINTEGRATOR Allan K. Brown, Santa-:Crumfialif; Application November 8, 1946; Serial No. 708,584

2 Claim's. 1

This invention: relates: toi rotary cylindrical driers, and has for its object the provision of a drieriof this type in which a motor-driven blade is mounted adjacent its interior surfacefor the purpose of aiding in breaking. up the material passing through the cylinder. Some materials which are fed to' rotary driers are of a lumpy character or" form" lumps as they pass through the drier. In'this' form, the heat applied simply serves to case-harden the lumps and thereby prevent the evaporation of the moisture contained therein.

With this difficulty in mind, I have developed a rotary drier provided, as'above' suggested, with a bladefof impeller form mounted for rotation therein'jadjacent its inner surface. v I

The "invention possesses other advantageous featuresgsome of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth at length in the following description where that form of the invention which fhas been selected for illustration in the drawing accompanying and forming a part of the present specification is outlined in full. In said drawing, one form of the invention is shown, but it is to be understood that it is not limited to such form, since the invention as set forth in the claims may be embodied in a plurality of forms Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a cylindrical rotary drier embodying the objects of my invention and in which parts have been broken away more readily to illustrate the invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken on the section line 22 of Fig. 1.

As shown in these figures, my invention has been embodied in a cylindrical rotary drier generally designated by the reference numeral I,

and which may in general be of any well-known and standard construction. The drier includes a base formed by a plurality of concrete blocks 2, 3, 4 and 5. Mounted on the blocks 2 and 5 are transversely extending and spaced channels 6, 8 and 9, the upper faces of these channels being arranged to lie on a common inclined plane. Fastened to these channels adjacent the ends thereof are bearings II and I2, and journaled in these bearings are shafts I3, on each of which is mounted a roller l4.

Cradled on these rollers is a cylindrical sheet metal shell 5, provided on its outer surface with a pair of steel tires l6 arranged to ride on the rollers l4. Welded to the interior surface of the shell l5 are a plurality of longitudinally extending and symmetrically disposed lifting chanviewed in Fig. 1.

nels which function in accordance with-well.- known practice to elevate the material passing: through the cylinder.

Formed on the surface of' the shell l5 are? one or more inwardly extending pockets l8;

Welded to the shell I5 across one end of the pocket I8 is a section of angle iron l9, and fastened to this angle iron and extending into the pocket [8 is a three-phase" electric motor 2 The shaft 22' of this motor'extends through the wall of the pocket l8 into the interior of the shell l5, and mounted onthe end1of thisshaft is a disintegrating blade 23 provided witln dovetail ends; Although. the: axis of? the -motor 2| is. radiallydisposed with; respect: to thezshell IE, it can be. inclinedfwithrespect thereto; If two or more motors and blades are resorted to, as shown in Fig. 1, they should be longitudinally spaced and located on different sides of the shell.

Fastened to the shell l5 intermediate the two motors 2| are a plurality of insulating spacing blocks 24, and mounted on these insulating blocks are three longitudinally spaced electrical contact rings 25. The three rings 25 are each connected with one of the phases of the motor 2| through suitable leads extending through a cable 26. Mounted on the block 3 which, it will be noted, is in line with the contact ring 25, is an electric brush retainer ZLin which are accommodated three spring loaded brushes 28 arranged to establish electrical contact between the three rings 25 and a cable 29 leading to a suitable source of electric current. This construction therefore provides a means for energizing the motors 2| and at the same time permitting them to rotate bodily with the shell I5.

Fastened to the block 4 is an electric motor 3|, and mounted on the shaft of this motor is a pinion 32 arranged to mesh with and drive a ring gear 33 mounted on the outer surface of the shell l5.

In the operation of this device, the motor 3| rotates the shell at any desired speed about its own axis in the conventional way. The material to be dried is fed through a suitable hopper (not shown) to the left end of the shell l5 as Hot air is then made to pass through the cylinder in any conventional manner, although in this connection it is to be observed that the drier may be either of the direct-heat type or of the direct-indirect-heat type. Upon the rotation of the shell the material fed thereto is made to progress towards the discharge end of form if, as is usually the case, it contains an appreciable amount of moisture it will agglomerate into lumps of substantial size as a resultof passing through the drier.

The motors 2| may be from two to five horsepower and, although the electric current used by them adds to the cost of the operation 'of the drier, this added cost is well Justified by the saving of fuel effected by the use of my disintegrating vanesvandwhich-I have foundto be in the order of 20%; ;I n addition to this saving of fuel, this expedient permits the use of lower temperatures, thereby avoiding caramelizing any sugar containing products such as tomato and apple pulp and grape pumice. I claim: y 1. A drier of the horizontal type comprising: a cylindrical shell mounted for rotation about a substantially horizontal axis; a motor-mounted on the outer surface of said shell with its shaft extending through said shell and substantially radially thereof; a disintegrating blade mounted on the inner end of. said shaft Within said shell;

means for energizing said motor; and means-for 2. A rotary drier of the horizontal type comprising: a base; a cylindrical shell mounted on said base for rotation on its own axis; a disintegrating blade mounted within said shell for rotation on an axis non-parallel with the axis of said shell; an electric motor mounted on the outer surface of said shell, said motor beingoperatively connected to said blade; conductor rings surrounding said shell and carried thereon by insulating"rriembers,"said motors being electrically connected to said conductor rings; and electric brushes mounted on said base for engagement with said conductor rings, said brushes being ar- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

' UNITED STATES PATENTS v Date) Number .Name 302,156 Nicholas July 15, 1884 553,091 Woodward Jan. 14, 1896 647,531 Seldner Apr. 17, 1900. 675,751 Moustier June 4, 1901 990,633 Campbell Apr. 25, 1911 1,217,351 Schwarz -Feb. 27, 1917 1,735,393 Hiller Nov. 12, 1929 1,829,888 Bucklen Nov. 3, 1931 1,934,930 Kent Nov. 14, 1933 2,096,597 Seabrooks Oct. V19, 1937 2,236,548 Prouty- .Apr. 1,1941. 

